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Huayna Potosi

After a week in Bolivia, we were enamored with the mountains and decided (sort of on a whim) to climb Huayna Potosi, a 6,088 meter (juuust about 20,000 foot) mountain less than 2 hours drive from La Paz. We ended up making it to the summit just after 7 am -- en exhausting but incredible experience.

May 11, 2009

Photos: 40

Bolivia

After not getting to spend the year in Bolivia, we did manage to visit for 2 weeks to get to know Fe y Alegria Bolivia and do some sightseeing in and around this spectacular city set in a dramatic valley at 12,500 feet surrounded by several 20,000+ foot mountains.

May 10, 2009

Photos: 37

La Bramadora

Our third and final school visit brought us to La Bramadora in Ecuador's Manabi province - a small, friendly town of 3,000 people with more heat, bugs, and banana trees than we could've imagined...

Apr 15, 2009

Photos: 60

Jahuapamba

Our second school visit took us to Jahuapamba (pronounced like Cawabunga), just north of Otavalo. The Fe y Alegria school in Jahuabamba is an intercultural, bilingual school set amongst cornfields and some serious mountains. The indiginous people around Otavalo have been some of the most successful groups at preserving their heritage, and the kids at the school still wear the traditional dress and speak Kichwa as their first language, and usually the language spoken at home.

Mar 20, 2009

Photos: 75

Laguna Quicocha

We took a weekend trip from Jahuapamba to nearby Quicocha lake. Legend has it that the two big mountains on either side of the lake (Cotacachi and Imbaburra) had babies and that's how the little mountain/islands got in the middle of the lake. Okay. Regardless, a gorgeous hike.

Mar 6, 2009

Photos: 19

Mom and Colin's Ecuador Trip - Quito, Banos, and Quilotoa crater lake

Feb 26, 2009

Photos: 111

Cuenca

Feb 20, 2009

Photos: 38

Galapagos

We got a great last minute deal and couldn't resist! What an amazing place!

Jan 20, 2009

Photos: 123

Machu Pichu

Lived up to everything we've read and seen about it all our lives. We lucked out with two great days during the rainy season and enjoyed touring, hiking, and taking in what is truly a stunning and special place. (Note: these 100 photos were edited down from Matt and Jen's combined 450 pictures from Machu Picchu...guess we got a little camera happy.)

Jan 6, 2009

Photos: 101

Cusco

Cusco turned out to be one of the most beautiful cities we've ever seen and also one of the most touristy -- not surprising given it is a gateway to Machu Picchu, with trains leaving several times a day. Despite all the annoying and overly aggressive vendors, definitely recommended (for a few days).

Jan 3, 2009

Photos: 22

Quito, Mindo and Otavalo with the Wilkas

Matt's family visiting gave us a wonderful excuse to do some of the nearby-Quito-sightseeing that we'd missed thus far...In addition to walking around Quito's lovely old town, we also took day trips to the cloud forest in Mindo (though unfortunately did not bring our cameras on our zipline adventure) and the Otavalo region, where we shopped (a lot) at Otavalo and Cotocachi and visited the gorgeous Quicocha lake.

Dec 31, 2008

Photos: 34

Cotopaxi

On December 16th I (Matt) climbed Cotopaxi, elevation 19,347 feet, with our housemate Matt and friend Eric. We drove to the refuge, woke up at midnight, and by 1:15 were climbing by the light of a full moon. Five gasping hours later we made it to the summit for an utterly fantastic sunrise and view. Overall, an amazing experience.

Dec 15, 2008

Photos: 32

Ilinizas

Matt and our roommate (also Matt) were brave enough to take on Ilinizas North (approx. 16,700 feet) as a prep hike for their upcoming Cotopaxi climb. They started at dawn and managed to get some great photos between the steep parts of the climb!

Dec 12, 2008

Photos: 16

Corazon -- Take One

Well, we attempted to hike Corazon, a 15,000 foot peak an hour and a half outside Quito. Unfortunately, our jeep kept getting stuck in the mud on the road up to the base of the trail....so we never quite got to the hiking part. An adventure nonetheless -- better luck next time!

Dec 11, 2008

Photos: 21

Pasochoa

A lovely hike an hour outside of Quito, about 13,000 feet at its peak -- the first of a few acclimitization hikes for Matt's trek up Cotopaxi (19,000 feet).

Dec 7, 2008

Photos: 21

Puerto Lopez

Nov 20, 2008

Photos: 59

Fe y Alegria - Guayaquil and Manta

After a few months of studying the Fe y Alegria school system in it's national headquarters in Quito, we took a trip to the coast to visit two of FyA's four regional offices and visited 8 schools. The cities themselves were quite a contrast to Quito -- Guayaquil a bustling city of 5 million and Manta a smaller port city of about 500,000...not to mention the warm coastal climate and different food. We visited 4 schools in each city, and were thrilled to finally get more of a hands on perspective and talk with directors, teachers, and kids.

Nov 18, 2008

Photos: 32

Mitad del Mundo

We're so close to the equator (45 minute bus ride) that we decided we better go visit it! The monument and museum that have been billed as "Mitad del Mundo" to the tourist industry are not actually on the equator -- the actual equator is several hundred meters away and has it's own museum of sorts with fun equator actities (like balancing an egg on a nail, which is quite easy on the equator, and watching water drain in counterclockwise and clockwise directions on either side of the equator). We went to both, and especially enjoyed playing on the real equator.

Nov 8, 2008

Photos: 19

Election Night

On November 4th we, along with several other Fulbrighters, were invited to the American Embassy's election night extravaganza, complete with food, drink, and 2 big screen TVs to watch the action (mostly in Spanish). We were a little apprehensive at first, but ended up having a great night ringing in our new President-Elect.

Nov 4, 2008

Photos: 18

Noroccidente - A different world 3 hours north of Quito

I accompanied Esquel's education coordinator to the rural Northwest region of Ecuador, about 3 hours from Quito, for a series of teacher workshops for teachers of unidocente (one teacher) schools.

Oct 1, 2008

Photos: 46

Parque Metropolitano

After a month living in Quito, we finally got a chance to explore Parque Metropolitano - the city's largest park. It's quite a hike (unhill!) to get there (or a $1.50 taxi ride, but we're too stubborn for that) but it was well worth the walk.

Sep 28, 2008

Photos: 18

The Vote

On September 28th, 2008, Ecuador voted on a referendum to approve a new constitution. After weeks of observing the build-up to voting day, we headed down to a local school to check out the scene...and then to campaign headquarters to witness the ensuing celebration when the constitution passed with 64 percent of Ecuadorians voting "si."

Sep 28, 2008

Photos: 23

Papallacta Hot Springs

For our first weekend jaunt outside of Quito, we headed east to Pappallacta - a small town about 2 hours away by bus - for a few days of relaxation in some seriously impressive hot springs.

Sep 20, 2008

Photos: 14

Teleferiqo

We made ourselves a promise that if there was a clear morning this weekend, we would get up early (the best bet for clear weather in Quito, as afternoons almost always get cloudy) and ride up the Teleferiqo - a cable car up Pichincha. We were pretty proud of ourselves for acclimating to Quito (about 9,000 feet) after a few weeks, but the top of the Teleferico - at 13,500 feet - was a whole different story. We hiked around for about an hour (completely out of breath most of the time) and got some incredible views of Quito below and the several snow-capped mountains framing the landscape.

Sep 12, 2008

Photos: 39

A Clear Day in Quito

Exactly three weeks after our arrival in Quito, we awoke to our clearest day yet. The weather forecast pretty much always says it's going to be 68 degrees with a 60 percent chance of rain (and is usually right). According to weather.com, today was no exception...but weather.com was wrong. It was a beautiful morning, so we postponed the reading we had planned to do (how Ecuadorian of us) in favor of going on a Quito-city-mountain-sightseeing-excursion, during which we caught our first glimpse of the volcano Cotopaxi.

Sep 10, 2008

Photos: 20

We Live Here

We have a home! Here are some pics from our apartment in Quito - which we share with two other Fulbrighters, Matt and Nina. We are conveniently located 5 minutes from the bus, the park, and a very tasty bakery.

Sep 10, 2008

Photos: 21

We Work Here

A few snapshots of the Fulbright office and the Fe y Alegria national office.

Sep 9, 2008

Photos: 18

First 2 Weeks in Quito

Some of the sights from our first few weeks in Quito - Mountains, mountains, and more mountains; around the Mariscal; Parque El Ejido; and the Centro Historico.

Aug 31, 2008

Photos: 26

Futbol - Ecuador vs. Bolivia

Especially with the soccer staduim only a few blocks away from our apartment, how could we miss the game? We got there 4 hours early (okay, maybe overkill...but the incredible array of vendors and peoplewatching kept us busy). It was quite the scene, complete with crazy fans, mountain backdrop, and airplanes flying almost overhead - and, yes, Ecuador won 3-1.

Aug 30, 2008

Photos: 41

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